Heartstrings
by SilentPatronus
Summary: AU/ One-shot/ It's Alex and Piper's one year anniversary and Alex has ordered Piper to keep that day free but Piper accidentally double books herself with her own mother, who, as it happens, is still unaware that Piper is even in a relationship. A run-in at a restaurant will soon change all that.


**Okay so this turned out longer than I expected it to but it's just a little oneshot. **

**I am sorry for any mistakes that may exist I hate looking through my work and honestly if I did that I'd probably end up posting nothing because I would find it too embarrassing so here you go. Sorry if it's a bit meh I had a lot of trouble writing it and I'm still not so happy with how it turned out**

**This is an AU.**

* * *

_"So let me get this straight," Alex began as she was pacing up and down her apartment, "you told your Mother that you would meet up with her for lunch today?" _

_Piper nodded and shuffled about in the kitchen space. Alex failed to see this nod, as she was too furious to even look up at Piper. "She didn't leave me with a choice." Piper argued back, but she knew it was helpless._

_"Pipes you always have a fucking choice." Alex said calmly before losing her temper. "You know what, fuck you, and fuck this evening I'm going."_

_"Alex please…"_

_But Alex cut her off by holding her hand up in a stop position. "Don't you fucking dare."_

_Alex grabbed her coat and walked out the apartment. Piper was now alone. It was meant to be their one-year anniversary. Alex had told Piper to keep the whole day free, she had everything planned right down to the little details and Piper had had one little job. Just one._

* * *

Piper's issue was that her family had no idea about this relationship with Alex, in fact they had no idea that Alex existed. She had mentioned her name several times to her parents but they'd both assumed that firstly Alex was male, and secondly 'he' was just a friend. Both assumptions were incorrect.

Piper's parents were traditional people, especially her Mom, and like Piper her mother was very persistent. That meant that when she invited Piper to lunch that summery morning Piper wasn't given a choice. Her plea to her mother that she couldn't change her plans wouldn't suffice and she was reluctant to explain the nature of the situation and so she had caved.

To say that Alex was angry with this was an understatement. She had totally erupted, refused to speak to Piper and as a consequence Piper had been sat leaning against the wall in Alex's – well you could say their – apartment. She had been this way for an hour now, and probably would have stayed like this if she didn't have plans for lunch.

Piper glanced down at her phone expecting to see a text from her Mom confirming she'd left but she instead was filled with rage at the text messages Nicky had sent her.

_What the fuck Chapman? _

Well she now knew where Alex had gone running to. Not that she was surprised. That fucking backcombed hair bitch. Okay Piper didn't really dislike Nicky, in fact she rather loved her, but right now she was annoyed over anything and everything because once again it was her that had screwed up. Not Alex. Her.

It was the same fucking story over and over again. Why did she have to be such a narcissistic lying fuck up? More importantly why did she have to be the same as her mother? In a rage she chucked her phone across the room and had it not landed on the carpet then it would have shattered completely demonstrating the force she put behind it.

She left her phone there for a minute and walked into the bedroom. She saw the champagne by the bed and the chocolate-coated strawberries that just this morning she and Alex had enjoyed. "Ugh" she cried out as she stamped her feet and walked on towards the walk-in-wardrobe to retrieve a cardigan before exiting the room.

Piper was about walk out the apartment after grabbing her bag when her phone vibrated again. 'Phew' she thought, as that vibration had meant she hadn't left it behind. She sighed as she saw Nicky's name appear up on her screen and she swiped open the message.

_Go to lunch with your mom. I'll take out Vause and you plan something fucking amazing for this evening. I will try and talk her round. You can thank me later. ;)_

This is why she couldn't hate Nicky. Yes she was a pain at times, and yes she mainly took Alex's side in all the arguments – although this wasn't surprising as she was Alex's friend first – but she was one of the few of Piper's friends who actually understood the complexities of hers and Alex's relationship. Hell, hardly any of her friends knew she swung that way let along had a girlfriend so they would have no idea that this girlfriend was not just a lesbian but also a drug smuggling lesbian.

Piper texted a quick thank-you to Nicky and apologised profusely, although she doubted that would be enough. Although Nicky seemed fine with her Piper knew that she was for Alex's sake, because if there was no middle person then they well and truly would have been screwed and she was grateful to Nicky for this, as she was sure Polly would never have done the same.

Finally Piper was able to leave the apartment, grabbing the keys from the lock and exiting remembering the slam the door shut behind her or it would never close properly. They'd been meaning to get the door fixed for a while but its priority had slipped especially as they hadn't really spent much time in the apartment with the recent travelling they'd been doing.

When she was satisfied that the door was fully shut she hurried down the steps, out of the building and out onto the sidewalk. Piper could have taken a taxi but it would have been rather pathetic as the place her mother picked was literally ten minutes down the road. She prayed to God that her mother didn't expect her to pay for this, as the only time she'd been here was when Alex took her. If she had a better pay-check then things would be different.

The smell of fresh air helped to relax her tensed body, something that she hadn't realised she'd been doing until now. She didn't feel so crowded in and the feeling of getting just a little exercise was already starting to make her feel just that little bit better.

Caught up in all the anniversary mess that had untangled itself this morning Piper had failed to go for a run, something that had happened for the first time in a very long time. She was an outdoors person, loving the fresh air, which was why she didn't walk too quickly to the restaurant. She wanted to savour this air, especially now, when she was about to face her mother.

Piper's relationship with her mother was strained to say the least, which was one of the reasons why today was important. They had had three previously cancelled lunches, one even where Alex was almost introduced to her Mom but Piper had backed out at last minute claiming to be 'ill'.

Piper's mind always wandered as it did now. In her ten-minute walk she thought about Alex and how she could make it up to her, she thought about introducing Alex to her Mom but that was not a good idea at this precise moment. She'd have to get Alex on her side. She thought about taking Alex out for dinner but that's just normal for them, she thought about staying in, but what's to remember about that? By the time she had reached the restaurant she was no better off then when she left the apartment.

Piper could see through the windows that her mother was already there sat down. Her mother saw her arrival and waved to her, beaming through the window. Piper pushed open the door and walked towards where her mother was sitting. A waiter tried to stop her on the way, telling her that she had to wait for a seat but Piper informed him that her mother was already here and seated and he let her through.

"What an arse." Piper commented as she gave her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She rolled her eyes demonstrating her opinion of the situation.

"But he was cute wasn't he?" Her mother grinned as they both sat back down.

"Mom stop that." Piper instructed. She could see what her mother was doing and this was partly one of the reasons why she hated seeing her. Every time she'd be onto her about being single. It was always the same old story.

"You're not getting any younger." Her mother added. 'There you go' she thought to herself.

"I'm seeing someone." She said simply

Her mother would have ranted for a long time demanding answers had the waiter not arrived to ask what they wanted to drink. Piper earned an eyebrow raise from her mother that went with a disapproving look as she ordered herself a glass of wine. It was barely mid-day. In response she could only defend herself by uttering, "it was a long morning."

"Was it work again? You really need to get a better job. This office work is really helping you age and it's not like you're making the big money." Her mother commented.

"That is very kind of you." Piper responded sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," her mother brushed it aside and wafted her hand in the air to indicate to Piper to let the situation go.

"But no this hasn't got to do with work." Piper sighed as she ran her hands through her hair.

"Oh?" Her mother questioned her suspiciously.

"So how have you been?" Piper asked her evidentially making an attempt to change the subject and this didn't go unnoticed, but for now the conversation was dropped.

"Well you know, keeping busy, this and that."

Piper nodded along as her mother rambled on about the health of her friends many of them Piper had never met before or if she had she couldn't put a face to the names she was given. During this time the waiter came back with the drinks and was quickly sent away so that the conversation could be continued. When Piper finally sees that her mother has finished speaking she makes another attempt to change the conversation so she can actually manage to stay awake through the meal.

"So how's Dad?"

She watched as her mother's face dropped, "I don't know." She replied truthfully.

"You don't know? How can you not know? You live with the man."

"That's it. Your father and I…. we decided to take a break."

"Where is he? Where's he staying?" Piper asked worried but she was interrupted in her conversation by a familiar voice.

"Oi Chapman." A familiar voice called out to her.

"Fuck," she commented and her mother gave her a stare before turning round to see who shouted it out.

Piper's mother watched as two people she didn't recognise looked towards their table. One of the girls had thick, backcombed curly hair and was extremely short, the other had raven hair, glasses and was extremely tall for a woman. The tall one grabbed the arm of the other clearly attempting to pull her away but the smaller one broke through and walked towards the table.

"Piper, this must be your Mom?" The short one nodded towards Piper's mother.

"Nicky what do you want?" Piper groaned slightly.

"Piper aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Her mother asked her. By this point Alex had walked up behind Nicky and refused to look at Piper.

"This is Nicky, and this is Alex." She indicated simply.

Piper's mother, not wanting to go into discussion about her recent split from her husband, which she knew would happen because Piper would not stop asking questions, decided that she was going to make a bold mood.

"I insist that you two join us for lunch."

"Oh no we couldn't." Alex finally commented. "We wouldn't want to interrupt."

"No, no, nonsense. Any friend of my daughter's is welcome."

After a few more minutes of insistence from Piper's Mom Nicky had given in leaving Alex with no choice but to join them. Once it was all arranged and their drinks were ordered they settled into a discussion.

"So I'm assuming you are both aware about Piper's relationship that she failed to mention."

"So you told her huh?" Nicky grinned nudging Piper, and glancing towards Alex nodding. "It's only been a year, it's about time."

"A year?" Her mother practically screamed out. "You have been with this man for a year and you haven't said anything?"

Piper could only glare at Nicky and she gave her an innocent shrug. It was her own fault really though. "It never came up in conversation."

"So what's he like? When can I meet him?" Her mother asked her.

Suddenly Alex came out from her daydream and was now interested in the conversation. "Yes Piper," she said slowly, "what's _he _like?"

"You know Nicky I really love your hair have you done something different to it?" Piper asked her.

Alex shook her head laughing slowly to herself. "Un-fucking-believable." She muttered.

"Piper is there something you're not telling me."

Piper ignored her mother and called over the waiter asking for the strongest wine he had.

"Okay Mom you really want to know why I am a shit mood? Today is my one year anniversary with my partner," she chose her words carefully "and because you are such a fucking manipulative narcissist I had to go out to lunch with you. Satisfied?"

"You could have just said." Piper's Mom replied.

"If I said anything my life would have become fucking 21 questions." She spat. "I need some air." She got up from the table and headed outside.

"Wow she really is in a bad mood." Nicky commented.

Alex had still only made one contribution to the conversation something very much unlike her, and although she was angry with Piper, angry didn't even cut it, she didn't like seeing her this way and silently got up from the table and followed her out. As soon as she did this she regretted it mainly because leaving Nicky alone with Piper's mother probably wasn't a good idea.

When Alex had left the table Piper's mother looked towards Nicky and spoke, "you don't happen to know who this partner is do you?"

"Of course," Nicky replied. "And so do you."

"Oh please don't tell me its Larry?"

"Larry as in Polly's friend Larry? Mrs C you have nothing to worry about there it is definitely not a him, or a he for that matter." And there it was, Nicky not watching her mouth, not that she even thought it was a mistake. Piper had waited way too long to tell her mother.

Piper's mother almost spat out her drink. "What?"

"Your daughter is gay."

The look of shock expressed on her face spread to her hand, which began shaking. "How did I not know this? Why didn't she tell me?"

"Beats me." Nicky shrugged back.

"You're not going to give me a name are you?" Piper's mother asked and Nicky shook her head in response.

"I think I've said enough already." She tapped the hand of Alex's mother who nodded in response. Either she seemed to take the news pretty reasonably, or maybe she wasn't going to react until Piper was alone. After all these two had only just been introduced to each other.

Meanwhile Alex had followed Piper out to the back garden and watched as the blonde leant against the wall looking out towards the back of the land. "You can't keep running away."

"Who's running away? I'm not running away."

"So you standing out here instead of being back inside eating lunch is not running away." Her voice was soft but then she decided to get to the point. "Piper what the fuck is up with you? Why do you find it so hard to tell your mom the truth? It isn't hard. 'Hi mom I have a hot girlfriend who I want you to meet'." Alex imitated her.

"You have no fucking clue Alex."

"Well why don't you tell me Pipes?"

She shrugged in response. She was scared of telling her family. They weren't very understanding people and while her mother could get past the gay part she probably wouldn't really buy into the whole drugs thing.

Almost as if reading her mind Alex commented, "it's my job isn't it?"

Piper nodded.

"Just tell her I'm an importer of some random crap and if she asks any questions I inherited the money from my grandparents."

"I hate lying to her." Piper admitted.

"Hate to tell you kid but you're already doing that." It was the truth; she couldn't deny that.

"So here's what we're going to do," Alex whispered in her ear, "we're going to go back inside, we're going to answer any questions she has, we're going to finish our meal and then you're going to make it up to me."

Piper nodded and felt a tug on her arm from Alex as she dragged her away from the wall. Alex's hand slipped down Piper's arm until she connected with her hand. Their fingers intertwined, and Alex gripped them gently but firmly, holding enough force that she could ensure that Piper would be following on behind if she ever tried to backtrack. Luckily she didn't. Their hands broke apart as they reached the table right before Piper and Nicky looked up after feeling their presence.

"So Piper there isn't anything you want to tell me is there?"

Piper glanced between Nicky and her own Mother. "Why? What has Nicky said?" She glared towards Nicky slightly.

"It doesn't matter what Nicky has said I want to hear it from you."

Piper felt a hand on her leg and realised it was Alex's. She knew that Alex was too good for her. Alex wasn't meant to follow her out, Alex wasn't meant to be reassuring her now Alex was meant to be angry with her.

"If Nicky has told you I'm gay, I'm not." Piper spoke slowly.

"And why would she say that?" Piper's mother was feigning innocence. She wanted to hear it from her daughter.

"Because I have a girlfriend." Piper said after a few moments pause. It almost was as if she wasn't going to speak, she had attempted to utter the words a couple of times but it took a while for them to eventually come out.

Her mother already knew. She could see it in her eyes. She didn't seem as shocked as expected.

"What I can't understand Piper is why you were so desperate for me not to find out that you missed your one year anniversary with her, and the reason why I haven't been to your apartment in over a year is because you no longer live there."

"I screwed up." She said quietly. "I'm sorry." This was more aimed towards Alex but it was her mother that responded.

"And am I going to meet this… partner… of yours?"

"You already have." Piper replied as she stared towards Alex, who in return was looking at her back. Alex's hand slipped into Piper's and that's when it clicked.

"This still doesn't make it alright kid." Alex commented towards her.

They were all interrupted by the delivery of their food. During the meal small talk was made. It mainly involved Alex being interrogated by Piper's mother, firstly about her job, where there was an awkward tension where Alex lied through her teeth and secondly about how they met, where they described their awkward meeting at a bar in Coney Island only to meet again at a casino in Queens.

By the end of the night even Nicky was making jokes about how she met Alex – having to edit out the drug bits – but nevertheless keeping it mostly truthful, and the time where she had been called round to fix the toaster after Piper had made an attempt with a glue gun. Mrs Chapman even chipped in a few of Piper's baby stories which left her embarrassed and she knew she wasn't going to hear the end of that from neither Alex or Nicky.

It was obvious to Alex in particular that Piper's mother was trying to reach out to her daughter. There was a sense of insecurity in her voice, and loving. Almost like she needed her. She was nothing like she'd imagined and nothing like how Piper had described her but by the way Piper was acting when Alex first set eyes on her in the restaurant their conversation wasn't too pleasant or something had happened.

When they'd finished Piper's mother paid for the bill. Alex had insisted but it was refused immediately and Alex chuckled a little inside noticing the plainly obvious similarities between her girlfriend and her girlfriend's mother.

Alex politely invited Piper's mother over but she was insistent that the pair needed to talk and she gave all three a hug declaring that it was nice to finally meet someone other than Polly before heading out. Nicky patted Alex on the back and said to Piper, "you owe me one Chapman" before also making her exit. Then there were two.

They were the last to exit the restaurant and when they did they walked in silence until Alex broke it off. "Pipes…"

"Look I know what you're going to say and yes I am fucked up for not telling my Mom sooner or standing up to her when she was insistent on lunch and I promise I'm going to make it up to you. Just give me that chance. But now you know how it feels like when you're too busy with work."

"Don't shove your mistakes on me. Don't make out like it's my fault. You're the one being a horses arse." Alex argued back.

"I'm a horses arse?" Piper screamed back in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Calm the fuck down."

"Don't tell me to calm the fuck down miss 'I am a lesbian and I'm going to rub it in everyone's face'."

"Well at least I'm not hiding away from who I am."

"Neither am I…. anymore."

"Look Pipes I don't even care whether your parents know or not, I get that it's difficult for you but all I asked was for one day for us."

They were now standing outside their apartment building but Piper wasn't walking up the steps.

"Get in the car." She instructed, which was parked just opposite where they were standing.

"What?" Alex asked her confused.

"Let me make it up to you, now get in the car."

Alex got into the passenger seat and Piper into the driving seat, they both put on their seatbelts and Alex glanced towards Piper confused. "Where are we going?"

"Now that is a surprise."

"Piper." Alex was now using her full name in hope that she would take her more seriously.

"I'm not telling you Alex I just need you to do two things."

"What?" She asked curiously.

"Shut up, and quit being mad at me. Just give me the chance to make it up to you."

"Well I'm in the car aren't I?" Alex asked her.

The journey to the mystery place was silent, neither one speaking. Mainly because Piper's ability to multitask was not so good so her attention had to be on the road.

It was half an hour in when Alex had a hunch as to where they were going and glanced towards Piper who noticed this. "Do not say a word."

"I wasn't going to." But Alex was now attempting to suppress a smile.

Eventually Piper parked up in a nearby car park and they both got out the car. They silently headed in the direction of the buzz of what was known as Coney Island, where they'd first met. Piper grabbed her hand and walked slightly in front leading the way. Although Alex recognised the place she wasn't exactly sure where Piper was taking her at what was now 4pm in the afternoon.

Piper dragged her into a bar but still Alex was playing hard to get. "This is the best you can do?"

"Hey this is important to us."

"So is Nicky but that doesn't mean it makes it all better."

"I think you're forgetting the best part of that night." Piper whispered seductively in her ear.

"You know you may have to remind me."

"All in good time, all in good time." She smirked.

"So when your mother asks me where you took me to make it up to me you're going to tell her you took me to the place where not only we met but where we first fucked?" Alex raised her eyebrows trying to make Piper cave. She enjoyed seeing her suffer sometimes and although she truly hadn't been that angry with Piper since the lunch she just enjoyed the reactions.

"No I'm going to tell her that I took you to the place where I fell in love with you." She smiled.

Alex looked confused. "But the only time we've been here together was the night we first met."

"Exactly." Piper winked at her.


End file.
